The Plague Doctor
by Tredbull
Summary: A short story from the Hunt Showdown universe.


The Plague Doctor

By: Tredbull

The carriage stopped by the side of the old dirt road. The hunter opened the door and got out. He hung his rifle over his right shoulder and adjusted his hat. The skies were clouded and made even the summer night much darker than usual.

"Travel safe." the coachman said with a raspy voice.

The hunter gave no reply and started to walk down towards the water nearby. He saw a single lantern cast a gloomy light over the small dock, where a boat was waiting.

As he came closer a dark figure sat up in the boat. The hunter nodded without a word and stepped into the small rowboat.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this Parker?" the man said.

"Just get us out of here." the hunter said dryly.

After about an hour the small boat reached its destination. Not a single word had been

exchanged. The boat slowly glided into the dock, and the hunter grabbed onto a ladder that led up to the top.

He threw the man a pouch of coins and quickly climbed up the ladder. Before he could reach the top, the boat was already backing out to leave. After the incident, the area was shunned by most people.

The hunter scanned the area for any movement or sounds. Then he slowly moved towards one of the abandoned buildings of the harbor. He found a door unlocked and slipped in. It was a small boathouse filled with old nets and some tools. Otherwise, it was empty. He secured the door and sat up a trap that would alert him if anyone would try to break in

during the night.

He threw one of the larger nets into the corner of the room and sat down on it. Leaning against the wall he could get a couple of hours of sleep before the sun would rise.

He could need the rest. He had traveled far and needed all his strength for the task at hand.

He closed his eyes and tried to listen for any sounds outside. The only thing he could pick up was a bell, far off in the distance. After a while, it died out, and he fell asleep.

He woke up and was not sure how long he had been asleep. But dim light was coming through the cracks in the walls. He quickly got up made it outside. The sun had started to rise.

He had a long day ahead of him, and he had no time to waste.

As soon as he had left the harbor, he found a spot on the grass beside the road. He needed directions to navigate after. He sat down on his knees, closed his eyes and focused. He felt a tingling in his forearms as a vision came to him.

"North-east," he thought, "Yes, definitely north-east."

It was not far. After less than one kilometer he found some buildings. They looked as abandoned as anything else he had seen so far. He closed in and could see that it was an old workshop. In a crouched position he sneaked into the compound to investigate it further. He could feel he was getting closer to what he was looking for.

The workshop must have belonged to a casket maker, as several unused coffins were stacked up against the wall of the main house. But he was not interested in the main house. He was drawn towards a structure without walls. Stacks of building materials had been stored outside, and he could see a circular saw inside. The smell of decay was polluting the area.

He soon saw why. Two bodies were hanging from a rafter. They seemed to had been executed some time ago and swarms of flies covered the corpses.

He did not give them much attention, but as he slowly moved by, they suddenly came to life.

The bodies started to twitch and wriggle. Their mouths opened and released an angry shrieking sound.

The hunter acted on instinct and reached for two throwing knives from his boot. With deadly precision, he silenced the bodies with one knife to each head. He was a little puzzled. Had these people been infected after their death? Or were they already infected before they were executed? He had no idea. There were still a lot of questions that needed to be answered about this plague.

As he came in under the roof, he found what he was looking for. On the floor, a rift was shining with a glowing, blue light. He sat down in front of it and rolled up the sleeves of his coat.

Both his forearms bore large symbolic tattoos. They were itching now, and it was all because of the closeness to the rift. He focused again, and yet another vision came to him. It was stronger than before. North, this time. He moved on.

It took him hours to make it through the forest to the north. He tried to stay off the well-used paths and used the trees to conceal his movement. As he crossed one of the many dirt roads, he spotted several of the undead further away. He ignored them and moved on. The unnecessary confrontation was of no value.

At the border of the large forest, he came to large golden fields of wheat. He could feel he was getting closer to the next rift. He made it over a broken fence and started to move slowly towards a farm on the other side.

Halfway through the field he suddenly heard a hissing sound nearby. Snakes were the first thought that came to his mind. He quickly pulled out his knife.

What appeared in front of him, was something he had never seen before. It looked like a snake, but it was longer and thicker than any he had seen around these parts. The animal rose up from the ground, and the part that should have been its head split apart vertically. Hundreds of small pointy teeth were revealed. It looked like the gaping maw would be able to consume a humans head in one bite.

As the foul abomination launched itself forward for the attack, the hunter threw himself to the left while swinging his knife in a wide arc. The weapon connected right where the throat should be and the creature fell to the ground in twisting spasms. Dark blood covered the ground as the hunter cleaned his knife.

Suddenly a gunshot could be heard from the direction of the farm. The hunter quickly moved towards the sound. Another shot came, but he decided the bullets were not meant for him.

Someone was nearby. He used the wheat for cover until he came up to some large bales of hay near the northern fence.

He peeked out from his cover and saw a man running. Only a few meters behind him two undead grunts were chasing him. The man spun around and shot one of them in the head. His gun must have been empty as he quickly continued his sprint. He disappeared behind a big barn.

Parker jumped over the fence and started to run towards the building. He could hear the sounds of a struggle coming from the other side. Before he could reach the barn he heard three more shots, but they sounded like rifle shots. He stopped at the corner to take a peek.

The man that he first saw lay dead on the ground, and the infected right next to him.

"I got him!" said a voice out load.

Two men dressed in black came out from the trees behind. They were carrying rifles and had masked their faces with bandanas.

"Outlaws." he thought. The area had been full of all sorts of fortune hunters after the infection had broken out. Some worse than others. These two did not seem to have good intentions.

The barn had a door on the side. Parker quickly got inside and moved silently through the building. It was dark and humid inside. He could still hear the two men outside, but could not hear what they were saying.

Suddenly a large crash could be heard. A large pitchfork had fallen over and hit some metal buckets. Parker grinded his teeth. His presence was no longer unknown.

"Hear that?" said one of the voices outside, "There is more!"

Parker knew what would come next, so he pulled out his revolver. A large door opened on the other side of the barn. A dark silhouette could be seen in the entrance.

In a split second the Pax was up and fired. The figure in the door fell to the floor without a word.

He could hear someone swearing as a window hatch to his right was opened. A fizzling sound from a burning fuse could be heard. Dynamite.

"Shit!"

Parker saw the glimpse of a burning dynamite stick come flying through the hatch, as he threw himself behind something big in the corner. He was lucky. The generator protected him from the explosion, all though his head was ringing like a clock.

He had no time to lose. Out of the smoke from the explosion came the last outlaw running.

Frantically firing a pistol into the dark. One more shot from Parkes Pax made him fall to the floor. Everything went quiet.

Parker went outside, brushing the dust of his coat. He checked the man that the outlaws had killed. A young black man with a rifle on his back. in his hand, he still held the empty revolver.

It was a good gun. A Caldwell Conversion Uppercut. He had more ammunition in his pocket.

Parker took the holster and the gun and strapped it to his belt.

"Why did you have to be so loud?" he said to the corpse, before leaving to look for the rift.

When he had left, another figure came out of the forest and walked up to the corpse of the young man.

"Yeah, you were a loud one son." he said quietly, "I guess you won`t be needing this after all."

The man lifted a small bottle from the body and put it in his pocket.

He got up and looked around. Another one of the infected was slowly approaching him. The man raised his arm, pointing at the intruder. The undead stopped. It looked confused. Then it turned around and walked away in the opposite direction. The man lowered his arm and returned to the forest.

The rift lead him to the west. He walked on for a few more hours. He passed through a large area consisting mostly of small forests and grasslands. The hunter could feel that he was getting closer, but the hardest part was yet to come.

When he saw what he was searching for, the sun had already begun to set. On a small hill, he could see a large grey building. In this desolate area, it lay there like a monument. He guessed it had been a hospital. The windows were dark and it looked abandoned and forgotten.

As he moved in closer he could see some movement on the grassy area in front of the building. More undead. It was to be expected.

He came up to a fence and saw a large sign by the entry gate.

"Greenhill Sanatorium," it said.

The fact that there were infected by the front door told him that no one had passed through this way recently. That was a good sign. He could look for another way in, or he could eliminate the threat and move on.

He chose the latter as it would save him some time.

As he approached them, the infected reacted to his presence. Slowly they turned and started to walk towards him. He suspected they were earlier employees that had worked at the asylum. Three of them were women in nurses outfits and the last a larger beast that no longer looked like a human. It was covered in something grey and woodlike material. It was as it had grown out from within.

If there were anybody inside, he did not want to alert them. He pulled out his blade and a throwing knife. The first nurse fell to the ground with the knife planted in her forehead. The other two got stabbed through the eye.

The big one put up more resistance. Even though it seemed slower, its` attacks were fast. He dodged to the side and stabbed it several times. At last, it fell to the ground.

The main door stood open and he walked right in. With one revolver in each hand, he began to search the building. The asylum contained long corridors and many rooms. But his senses told him that he needed to get down to the basement.

He found the entrance in the eastern wing. As he started to ascend, he heard a growling sound from behind. He spun around and saw an infected in a straight jacket coming down the stairs after him. One headshot from the Pax and the attacker tumbled down the steps.

So much for stealth. If there were anyone else in the building, they would know of his presence now. He hurried down the stairs and found a new corridor with a door in the end.

As he got closer to the door he could feel the familiar tingling in his forearms. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath.

He pressed the handle down and pushed the door open while waiting with his back against the wall for two seconds. Then he spun around pointing both of his guns into the darkness. Slowly he moved forward. It was a large room. Square pillars were holding the roof up and the floor was covered in mud. The smell of death and decay was stronger than ever before.

Some of the pillars were covered in mold and filth. Swarms of flies buzzed up as he walked forward. Flickering flames from touches around the wall gave the room some light.

At the end of the room, the hunter could spot his target.

A dark figure was sitting on a wooden barrel. Arms leaning on his knees, fingertips tapping against each other in a slow rhythm. His coat was hanging to the ground and his head was covered in a beaked mask with round goggles. He did not move. He just observed. The fact that he had two guns pointed right at him, did not seem to give him unease.

"I have come for you." said the hunter.

The figure did not respond.

"Are you responsible for all of this?"

Still no answer.

"Very well. Have it your way." with those words the hunter opened fire.

The plague doctor opened his arms and a green flame shot up in front of him and swallowed the bullets. He fired again but to no use.

The plague doctor raised his arms and a hissing sound came from his mask. A half-rotten arm came up from the mud and grabbed the hunters ankle. He kicked it away as he saw a head appear next to it. Four undead bodies came crawling up from the soil. Growling and snarling they fought to free themselves from the mud.

The closest one got a bullet through the head before it could get up. The second was almost free as his brain was smeared against the wall. He cast a glance over at the plague doctor. All he saw was a shadowlike movement and the figure disappeared behind one of the pillars.

The two grunts came running towards him as he backed up. They seemed faster than the ones he had encountered earlier. He placed a shot right through the eye of the first. The bullet from the Uppercut went through his skull and into the shoulder of the one behind. It did not stop the last attacker and it came up close. Filthy claws came down as the hunter tried to block the assault. For a rotting corpse, the undead had remarkable strength. He punched it in the head with the grip of the Pax, then shot it twice in the abdomen with the other gun.

As it went down, he caught a glance of the plague doctor behind the pillar. Quickly he fired off a shot. Yet again the bullet was consumed by green flames.

"Sorcery!" he cursed and fired again.

The bullet hit the wall. The familiar hiss could be heard from the other side of the room. More corpses rose from the dirt to attack. He shot the first two with the Uppercut. As it was dry, he threw it in the head of the next, that staggered back. He pulled his knife out.

It got harder and harder to fend off the oncoming monsters. When the Pax was empty he pulled out the last of his throwing knives.

There seemed to be no end to the attackers. He had to find the doctor. The source. He swung the knife around and wounded two grunts in one blow. And then he ran. He moved in a large circle. Dead hands tried to grab him, but he broke free. As he rounded one of the pillars he came face to face with his prize. He wrestled him to the floor. The undead minions were already over him as he managed to punch the knife up under the doctors mask and into his brain.

A chorus of cries came from all the grunts as their master died, and they fell to the floor in heaps of rotting flesh.

The hunter rose, shook off the undead filth, and unsleeved his arms. The tattoos on his forearms were glowing.

"Now! You will be banished!"


End file.
